Another seat thread

[lcgeek]

Found a guy who wholesales tons of new seats that get removed from new conversion vans. Problem is the seats are second and third row. He says he sells tons to heep, classic car, and hot rod guys. I stopped by to see how they would fit. I am no seat expert...is a seat a seat, or something inherently wrong with have second row seats as front row?

 

[SoCalJB]

BUMP

 

[Hillhippy]

Well, you might be a bit of a "back seat driver".

 

[mp_cude]

I'll trade you mine for yours, if yours are in great shape. I have new corbeau seats. I want to put everything back to stock.

 

[lcgeek]

MP, I don't think my brown and tan would look good in your grey interior I ended up having a local guy do new HD foam bottoms and add some back side bolsters. Best mod so far, stock seats that feel great!

 

[CruisinTiger]

Just depends on how much work you have to do to the mounting brackets. I put a set of PT cruiser seats in mine and it took about a half hour to switch out the mounting brackets.

 

[Niferous]

Those seats look like they are out of a Dodge minivan. We have a Chrysler and they use the same ones. One thing that is interesting is that those seats fold down and then flip forward when you pull up on the lever that you can see on the side. If they'll fit they are a comfortable seat. I'd be a little worried about making sure that the base that they use don't prevent them from folding up. You wouldn't want that in an accident.

I used seats out of a 2004 Dodge Neon and they fit right in and I only had to modify one leg of the mounting bracket.

 

[8660inSD]

MP, I don't think my brown and tan would look good in your grey interior I ended up having a local guy do new HD foam bottoms and add some back side bolsters. Best mod so far, stock seats that feel great!

Would you mind sharing who did your foam work?

 

[lcgeek]

Would you mind sharing who did your foam work?

It was a father/son team working out of their garage in Buckeye AZ Apparently the father spent many years doing upholstery in Los Angeles and they left Cali and came to AZ a few years ago to start their own little biz. PM me if interested and I can give you his phone#.

 

[Beachcomber Bernie]

I followed up with @lcgeek about his front seat repair and pulled the trigger based on our conversations. Spoke with Gonzalo at Mobile Upholstery in Buckeye AZ and exchanged several very pleasant emails. Gonzalo is clearly service oriented and responded well to all of my concerns. I think the things that sold me on using his company was a combination of lcgeek's results just 3 months prior and Gonzalo's (and father's) skills and willingness to address every one of my concerns during our candid conversations. I'm a bit of a PITA when it comes to stock.

Cost: Very reasonable. Almost inexpensive considering the quality of the end result.
Downside: Shipping was a bit pricy via UPS. I justified it by knowing I was going with known recommendation for the exact same seats.

For the two front seats...

1. Replace both brown vinyl panels on the DS seat bottom. AZ has a few more fabric resources than we do here in SLO and he found one that is almost an exact match with the original.
2. Clean the fabric. There was a sizable stain on the PS seat. He did a great job making that one go away and refreshing both seats.
3. Since the frame would probably not see the light of day again for awhile, spray with a rust inhibiting paint.
4. Replace old foam on both bottoms and backs.
5. Get it done in a week.

This job was intended to be a seat referb and not a restore. Yes, I could have taken more time to blast and powder coat the frames, locate original vinyl and dry clean the fabric. Bottom line is that I'm thrilled with the overall result/time/cost.

Seats arrived on schedule. Lubed, assembled and out for test drive 2 hours later. As the geek says,

Best mod so far, stock seats that feel great!

My wife is happy!
Great firm seat. I can no longer count the seat springs with my butt.
Awesome lower back and side support.
AND... I no longer cringe with worry about that failing side panel when entering/exiting.

I know there are lots of threads about seat replacement, but I wish y'all could just try mine on (or lcgeek's) before you do.
Don

 

[lcgeek]

Bernie, let's see some pics sir.

 

[LAMBCRUSHER]

yeah, pics...you guys think Gonzalo would make just the foams? mind posting contact info?

 

[gregnash]

Yeah that would be awesome if he made the foams and sold them. I need to have the drivers seat redone, was only quoted $175 by a couple local shops but that is just repairing the foam and doing the upholstery not replacing the foam.

 

[Beachcomber Bernie]

@LAMBCRUSHER
I believe he would make up the foams for you. But there was more to it that is worth considering. Here's what Gonzalo told me.

"The acrylic canvas you seen on the bottom portion is installed as a protector for the foam so that the metal frame will keep from cutting through the foam as time goes by. The layering really helps develop the perfect build up when it comes to molding the foam to an exact design."

You can see the light colored canvas in the underside pic. I believe that the build-up of materials is important and you might find a local to do that for you.

 

[Beachcomber Bernie]

Finished product
You can make out the lighter colored canvas foam wrapper and other protective layers.
Close up pic shows how well that new bottom vinyl matches the original back vinyl. It's just a hair lighter but the grain and detail are spot on.

 

[lcgeek]

Looks great!

 

[dpr64]

I followed up with @lcgeek about his front seat repair and pulled the trigger based on our conversations. Spoke with Gonzalo at Mobile Upholstery in Buckeye AZ and exchanged several very pleasant emails. Gonzalo is clearly service oriented and responded well to all of my concerns. I think the things that sold me on using his company was a combination of lcgeek's results just 3 months prior and Gonzalo's (and father's) skills and willingness to address every one of my concerns during our candid conversations. I'm a bit of a PITA when it comes to stock.

Cost: Very reasonable. Almost inexpensive considering the quality of the end result.
Downside: Shipping was a bit pricy via UPS. I justified it by knowing I was going with known recommendation for the exact same seats.

For the two front seats...

1. Replace both brown vinyl panels on the DS seat bottom. AZ has a few more fabric resources than we do here in SLO and he found one that is almost an exact match with the original.
2. Clean the fabric. There was a sizable stain on the PS seat. He did a great job making that one go away and refreshing both seats.
3. Since the frame would probably not see the light of day again for awhile, spray with a rust inhibiting paint.
4. Replace old foam on both bottoms and backs.
5. Get it done in a week.

This job was intended to be a seat referb and not a restore. Yes, I could have taken more time to blast and powder coat the frames, locate original vinyl and dry clean the fabric. Bottom line is that I'm thrilled with the overall result/time/cost.

Seats arrived on schedule. Lubed, assembled and out for test drive 2 hours later. As the geek says,


My wife is happy!
Great firm seat. I can no longer count the seat springs with my butt.
Awesome lower back and side support.
AND... I no longer cringe with worry about that failing side panel when entering/exiting.

I know there are lots of threads about seat replacement, but I wish y'all could just try mine on (or lcgeek's) before you do.
Don

Hi... How much did he charge you? Curious as I am thinking of this or swapping in some other seats..
PM or email me if you wish..
Dennis

 

[Beachcomber Bernie]

Full disclosure in PM.